Bharti Airtel has introduced 3G services in Kolkata using spectrum on the 900 MHz band. This will allow the operator to offer faster 3G services to customers.
So far, Bharti Airtel was providing 3G services to users in the Kolkata circle on the 2100 MHz band through intra-circle roaming pact with Vodafone India as originally the operator did not have 3G spectrum in the city. However, with access to 7 MHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz bandwidth in Kolkata, acquired in September 2013, Bharti Airtel will deploy 5 units of spectrum for offering high speed 3G services under its Platinum 3G brand, while the rest of the 2 MHz band will be used to strengthen its 2G operations, which will primarily run on its 1800 MHz spectrum holdings.
With an aim to strengthen its 3G network, Bharti Airtel has already bought about 1600 sites from ZTE, and plans to buy additional 300 to 400 sites over the next few months. The operator?s 3G network in Kolkata will be managed by Nokia Networks, which already has the operations and maintenance (O&M) mandate for the operators 2G and 4G networks in the city.
At present, Bharti Airtel has over 4 million customers in Kolkata, out of which about 15 to 20 per cent are smartphone users with 3G connections.
